Where does time go? 
In the last Greetings we were talking about the Aussie dollar reaching parity with the American – today it is below 70 cents to the American dollar. A lot has happened recently in the world financial scene.[There are two new blossoms in our garden; do you know either of them? I like the fruit of one and the birds eat the other.]
TEAR and ToiletsWhere have we been since the end of July? We attended the annual TEAR conference where Ched Myers spoke about “The Biblical Vision of Sabbath Economics” – a vision where the poor are taken care of rather than the rich (like Wall Street bankers).TEAR Australia is a movement of Christians in Australia responding to the needs of poor communities around the world (similar to Mennonite Central Committee). Mark has an article on nonviolence in one of their recent publications.
If you visit our new home, you’ll see that Mary has put several TEAR posters on the wall in the loo (toilet room) with “Toilet Trivia” from around the world like this fact: “The average Westerner spends three years of their life in the loo.” You can read more about the International Year of Sanitation at http://www.tear.org.au/getinvolved/international-year-of-sanitation. (How many mission letters do you get that talk about toilets?)[During the TEAR conference, we took turns at our resource table. Mary is eating on the job. Mark with Doug Hynd, AAANZ’s vice-president]
Family in OZ
Moriah arrived back in OZ at the end of July and after several days with us in Sydney took up residency again in Canberra, the nation’s capital. On August 17, she was inducted into pastoral ministry at Canberra Baptist(read about it at: http://www.mennonitemission.net/Resources/News/story.asp?ID=1318). We were privileged to attend as the proud parents of the new associate pastor.
Mark’s writing and our travels
We’ve found ourselves in Canberra several times over the past few months. Besides times with Moriah we were there for a two-day conference on restorative justice and just this past weekend Mark attended a missions conference where he presented a paper on “Anabaptism: The Beginning of a New Monasticism.” (You can read it in our latest Journal at: http://www.anabaptist.asn.au/index.php?type=page&ID=3002 ) After one Canberra visit, we continued on to Melbourne for meetings about church conflict and visits with people interested in Anabaptism.
Continuing Renovations and guests[Mark keeps us out of the renovation dust. He also painted the entry stairs, railing and windows. Left: new paint in entry
Right: Mark washes windows after painting.]
At home, we’ve been dealing with continued housing renovations and were able to welcome our new neighbour downstairs. We’ve also hosted a number of visitors including one overseas Mennonite and two Aussies helping start a Christian Peacemaker Teams programme here in OZ and NZ. Mary has written about these events on her blog at: http://greetingsfromozontheroad.blogspot.com/.
Pastoring on the road
In September we spent ten days in Tasmania visiting AAANZ members and speaking in a number of small groups. We’re spoiled by the more moderate weather we have in Sydney and really feel the cold when we visit Tassie in winter or spring. Returning to Sydney felt like going directly from winter into summer.
[Left: A sign warns of Penguins crossing and (right) Sue and Josh listen while we talk about being alternative, attractive and articulate with a house church in Tasmania. Mary needs to talk less and take more photos of folks.]
What is coming up next?
Later this month and in November we have two courses to teach at the Pacific Peacebuilding Initiative here in Sydney In November we’re also travelling to Adelaide, South Australia for a conference and speaking in the Blue Mountains west of Sydney to a house church where we have several AAANZ members. The beginning of December we hope to go to Western Australia In between all of this travel, we continue to work on making this new house our home.
Mary made tutus for our grand-daughters’ birthdays
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